There are a lot of groups I can cite as the reason I wanted to get into music. I wanted to be an artist and have recorded music over the years. I’m a journalist and enjoy this to the fullest. I’m a record collector, and love finding out new and interesting sounds. But I can point to a small handful of groups that opened my eyes to the greatness of this thing called music. I can definitely point the finger to The Beatles. I can raise the hammer of the gods to Led Zeppelin. I can become a master in the hands of Black Sabbath. I can kiss the sky with help from Jimi Hendrix. I can find the reality of our world in the realm of Pink Floyd. I can rise above it all with help from Parliament and Funkadelic. These artists for me were and are highly influential in my approach in talking about and listening to music, and there’s another group who moved and continues to move me beyond what I can explain in a few words: Earth, Wind & Fire.
Both of my parents loved soul music, especially my mom who loved Motown and Stax. My mom loved the fierce dance tracks while my dad was true to the ballads. My dad also loved rock so in the house there was always a fine balance in music, along with whatever my uncles and my dad’s friends might bring for drinking and smoking sessions. Earth, Wind & Fire was never far from the stereo, so for me it was never about just hearing them on the radio, and never about just the hits. I got into their albums, the covers, the imagery, the vibe they wanted to share about being “one world, one people”, united in some cool metaphysical way.
My auntie was a fan of 1973′s Head To The Sky, so I could go to her apartment and hear that, but I was a fan of Open Our Eyes, which remains my all time favorite album by the group. My dad loved jazz so he had Ramsey Lewis‘ Sun Goddess, and in the liner notes I could see it featured members of EW&F. I would get EW&F albums for my birthday, the holidays, or simply because I had good grades. Hearing All’N'All felt like an event because it was a much bolder sound than previous albums. Another event was seeing the group have their own record label: American Recording Company (ARC). I could hear the hits on the radio, but they often had their best work in these albums.
Buying the Legacy Remasters of their albums and hearing the extras in their box set has never been enough for me. I want to hear more, I want to dig deeper. My idea for this installment of Idea Box is that I’d like to do a comprehensive book on the band, and here’s what I’d like to see covered.
But the core of what I want to write about is what lurks in the multi track tapes for everything they ever recorded. While I could easily focus on their entire career, I’d like to focus on the period between 1970 to 1984. I want to hear and explore all existing takes, which includes outtakes, alternate mixes, false starts, unused mixes and tracks, everything. If it exists, I want to share that information with the world. I want to do it in the same way Mark Lewisohn did with his book The Beatles Recording Sessions. Any existing live shows that weren’t used for projects? I want to hear and document this.
Because of this project, if that motivates Sony to create an EW&F project with a lot of unreleased goodies, or at least a way to focus on alternate mixes and takes, I’d like to work with them in order to make this happen. I have made attempts to write to the band’s website, and former EW&F keyboardist Larry Dunn but my inquiries have not been answered, probably due to busy schedules. I am very serious about this too, but if someone is already working on an EW&F book but has not focused on what lurks on the multi track tapes, please consider me as an addition to your project.
One might ask “but is there a demand for an EW&F book like this?”, but I’d like to think true, deep EW&F fans would like to hear and know more than what lurks in the liner notes for their remastered CD’s. For many, including myself, EW&F were very much a group up there with The Beatles. I’m sure some will say “if not more.” If doing a project like this means having to contact people with Sony, or whomever has ownership of the tapes, let me know who I can talk to to gain permission.
If a project like this has to be low key, I would not mind writing an article for my website or another website of interest, such as Okayplayer (whom I have contributed reviews for over the years). I don’t have to meet with anyone in the group, but if it leads to consulting Verdine White or even Maurice White about certain things on those tapes, or anyone who was in the studio with the group at the time, I’d like to be able to have that access.
Is a project like this possible? Of course it is, and I’d like to be able to do it. Yet if I’m not allowed to do it, and someone else is given the chance, I am in full support of it.
Some rough ideas for working titles:
It’s Your Life, Now In Review
The Upper Room
Open Our Eyes & Ears
Is this too big of a thing to do? Useless? I’d be willing to give this a shot. If anyone out there would like to discuss this with me, or can lead the way towards me doing this, contact me at BooksMusica [at] gmail [dot] com. Any help would be appreciated.
